Author: Detlef Pordzik
Date: 12:22:19 10/25/98
Go up one level in this thread
On October 25, 1998 at 03:15:42, Ed Schröder wrote: >>I sort of agree with you, except on the point of 'go out an buy it'. (now). > >>I bought Rebel7 & 9, and had the same situation that my hard disk would 'grind' >>a lot during the programs operation, and sometimes the program would just exit >>from windows without reason, at least for no reason that I understand. Also, >>the program's clock stops for several seconds when I exit book, and neither >>side is moving & the mouse disappears. I find this quite irritating! 4 different >>computers now, and the Rebel programs (except, free Decade), demonstrate the >>same behaviors... > >This is because you have started Rebel10 with a too big hash table. Just lower >the hash table size. More info in the README file or on the Rebel FAQ page at: > >http://www.rebel.nl/faq.htm > > >>I don't have these problems with any of my Windows chess playing programs, nor >>with the TASC Base 'King' program, and (paradoxically),I don't have this >>problem with Rebel Decade 2, also by Shroeder, which is a joy to play at its 2350 >>strength. (on a 200MzH, MMX machine). > >That's because Rebel Decade has a limited hash table size of just 512 Kb. It >avoids the Windows swapping, see above. > > >>Of course, I just play speed chess with these things, & occasionally analyze >>some tactics positions, or a GM game with them. I almost never play any kind of >>serious chess with them, and in fact I'm kind of the 'insane type', that >>Fernando talks about in his review of Comet A96. - I want to have always, the >>latest and coolest new program out there, which is certainly true of Rebel10, >>and Junior5, and many of the other's that will be coming out during the next >>months. > >>So we have here a paradox of sorts. The Shroeder company gives away a >>tremendous good program that is stable, and never crashes, and its free! > >>And it also continues to improve a tremendously complicated, superior, >>entertaining, and yet flawed program on the other. I wonder if they are as >>frustrated by this, as I am? Happily, they are working furiously on the first >>windows version of the Rebel program, so when that comes out I will buy it >>immediately. (Even though we'll have to worry about the usual bugs). > >Good you mention this. > >I guess we all are used to that? Except for chess programs I never buy >first versions of complex software myself. And when I still do I realize >that most likely I have to download one or two patches. > >It's (mostly) not the fault of software producers. In every released software >are bugs that's unavoidable but the main trouble these days is the 10,000 >of different hardware combinations that is supposed to work without any >problems with complex operating systems like Win95/98/NT etc. That's >impossible. Bug-free software was possible with an easy OS like DOS. > >This is the price we all have to pay for progress. Windows 3.1 was a >sensation but heavily bugged. Windows95 was another breakthrough >but the very first versions were a real disaster. The last versions of >W95 seems to run rock solid. Sometimes in exceptional cases I advice >people to upgrade to a newer version of Windows (or to re-install) >Windows and many problems people face simply disappear also with their >other software. > >I am not sure about W98. My first impression is very positive. Any Rebel >version runs rock solid on the first official version of W98 and the world >wide almost freely distributed BETA-3 W98 version. To my own surprise >you can even switch tasks (ALT_TAB) all DOS programs without any problems. >Microsoft has done a great job and Windows is much more stabile now. > >Now to Rebel10, if there are bugs which are simply errors of Rebel we >will fix them and make a patch. It only takes some time to investigate. > >I have read about complaints producers are miss-using customers. It >is said they release a buggy product as a kind of beta-test and then >make some patches available. I think this is not true at least not in >the chess software area. > >It's more the fact that chess software (concerning features) has made >a tremendous progress during the last years. Complex programs, more >risk on bugs. This in combination with thousands of different hardware >combinations, printer drivers, mouse drivers, video drivers, sound drivers, >cdroms drivers and an operating system that is supposed to work bug >free with all these possible combinations. Mission impossible. > >I personally hate to buy a program and then are forced to download a >patch. But it is a tendency that unfortunately is hardly to avoid these >days. > >Sofar the bad news. The good news about patches is that producers >(if they are smart) add a few new features to patches. It's not so >difficult to guess the why :-) > >- Ed - I've read this quite a couple of times - lately and some time before - especially in combination with the CM series - that prog authors, or distributing Co'ds " missuse " customers as beta testers . Excuse me, following the normal rules of commercial business, this is a sheer nonsense to insist - which ever Co might be involved. So I can only agree with Ed - noone'll try this by original meanings. As I lately did a quite time intensive research on J.de Koning and all his affilated products, I got lots and lots of informations how big the effort of, in this case, MINDSCAPE, was, to present a stable prog - CM 5.000. From Novato to Great Britain + Germany more than 25 people were busy on quality ensuring and testing. No doubts, that this didn't show the result - the users expected - BUT : for my opinion, it ain't that problematic, if such a complex program has it's flaws here and there - it's more important - how they react on the complaints of the customer ! As far as MINDSCAPE is concerned - they're VERY fast on delivering patches to correct the errors. If I try hard - I can remember other Co's - who started a big rumble in the jungle to debate on what is a to fix for free error and what not - instead of showing respect to the customer + releasing a patch quicky....and for free. So, up to today - in nearly 20 years in this scene - I haven't seen ONE singular prog without errors..... c/u ELVIS
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